Electronic Distance Measurement

- Physics and Application to Structural Engineering Research

11 January 2014
J. M. Lynch
CEE 398 KUC.
Evolution of EDM Instruments
Got its start in 1948 with Swiss device using visible
light (range=40km only at night)
http://www.gmat.unsw.edu.au


Microwaves used in 1957 (range=80km)
http://www.gmat.unsw.edu.au



Infra-red, IR, devices are common today
http://www.pentaxcanada.ca
EDM Physics Lesson
Electro-magnetic energy travels through the
atmosphere according to the following:




f
n
c
=
http://131.251.21.249/squ1/
Where:
c = speed of light in vacuum
n = atmospheric index of refraction, 1.003 for STP
f = frequency of the electro-magnetic energy
= wavelength of the energy



EDM Physics Lesson (continued)
The propagation of electro-magnetic radiation may be
used to measure distances as shown below
EDM



P
If the round-trip distance is not an integer number of
wavelengths, the partial wavelength may be measured
by noting the phase shift of the returning signal.

t
|
2
= P
EDM Physics Lesson (continued)
The distance between EDM and reflector is expressed
2
P n
L
+
=

Counting the number of complete wavelengths n

would require very accurate measurement of time
Instead, longer wavelength signals are sent as
demonstrated below

measured
|
round-trip distance estimate
10 m 101
o
2.806 m
100 m 190
o
52.81 m
1000 m 91
o
252.8 m
Therefore, 2L = 252.806 m
EDM Physics Lesson (continued)
Modern instruments use Amplitude Modulation (AM) to
generate multiple wavelengths from the same radiation
source.
http://www.tm.agilent.com/data/static/eng/tmo/Notes/i
nteractive/an-150-1/classes/liveAM.html
This is done for economics reasons and also to make
the units smaller, lighter, and less power hungry.
The carrier wave used for most modern EDM
instruments is generated by a Gallium-Arsenide-Diode
Laser at = 900 nm.
Current EDM Instruments
So called total-station instruments package a digital
theodolite (for measuring azimuth and altitude) with an
EDM, data storage device, and often a modem for
transmitting data from the field.
The most common instruments use a pulse of 2 to 4
AM frequencies ranging from 150kHz to 15MHz.
This range of frequencies have corresponding half-
wavelengths of 1.0km to 10m, respectively.
Low High
Accuracy 5mm + 10ppm 1mm + 1ppm
Range 1 km 5 km
Cost $10,000 $40,000
Data Storage none 7500 pts.
Magnification 10X 30X
Run-time 3 hrs. 6 hrs.
http://www.nikon.co.jp/survey-e
Application to Structural Engineering
Use of EDM on the scale of -strain measurements is
postulated as follows:
Approx. cracking strain of concrete = 40c
Use a gage length of 100mm
Distance accuracy measurement needs to be on the order of


Therefore, = 1mm or 0.1mm would be needed to obtain the
specified distance resolution
This wavelength corresponds to the IR and RADAR regions of the
electro-magnetic spectrum
(NOTE: AM is not likely to be appropriate given that the
carrier wave would have a wavelength on the order of
the desired AM signal)
( )( ) mm mm x L 004 . 0 100 10 40
6
= = = A

c
Application to Structural Engineering
Assuming that displacement measurements of the
required accuracy can be obtained . . .
An array of reflectors and two radiation sources are
positioned as shown
EDM
EDM
Reflector
Test Specimen